


The Way To Minho's Heart - A Guide By Chan

by dojaefairy



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Humor, M/M, Minho's Cats - Freeform, Romance, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23593837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dojaefairy/pseuds/dojaefairy
Summary: Ever since he first saw Minho in that English class, Chan fell for him - hard. Now, if he could only muster the courage to at least talk to him... but so far, he's failing spectacularly.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 13
Kudos: 118





	The Way To Minho's Heart - A Guide By Chan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thaneuh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thaneuh/gifts).



> I have no idea what I'm doing but this piece is dedicated to a very precious friend of mine I love with my whole lil gay heart, @Thaneuh. Happy birthday, I hope you'll enjoy this fic ♡

“Sigh one more time about the neighbor,” Felix warns, his voice almost breaking with how annoyed he is at his roommate, “I dare you.”

Chan looks at him with sad puppy eyes, and involuntarily lets out another huge sigh. There’s a nerve that twitches on Felix’s forehead, and Changbin can only watch as he jumps on Chan with a war cry. Chan obviously screams at the sudden attack, and Changbin turns away from his roommates fighting on the couch, not wanting to get dragged into this pointless fight.

Instead, he makes his way to the kitchen to get snacks, and then heads for the balcony of their apartment. In his back, Felix is biting Chan’s arm, while the latter is stretching Felix’s right leg way more than is humanely possible, but Changbin figures it’s best to let them spend their energy this way. After all, the more Chan is busy fighting Felix, the less he’s moping about Minho.

Speaking of the “cute neighbor with the three cats”, as Chan named his crush, here he is on his own balcony in the building opposite to theirs. Changbin squints, and he can spot at least two of Minho’s cats near their owner’s legs, and he figures the last one is somewhere in the apartment.

He’s never personally talked to Minho – Chan forbade them to do so, an order which Changbin welcomed with a judging expression because why would he spend time with Chan’s crush when he already has a whole Felix who requires all of his attention? Feelings have never been Chan’s forte anyway, resulting in him now helplessly crushing on this Minho guy without having ever talked to him. All they do is take a class together and Chan spends each session staring at Minho stupidly.

Changbin munches on his chocolate chip cookies, and Chan soon joins him on the balcony, his hair all messed up and a huge bite mark on his left arm. Changbin stares at the mark left by Felix’s teeth, and sighs in defeat. He lives with whole dumbasses – and he’s even dating one of them, so he’s not sure what that tells him about his preferences in people.

“Does he also bite you like this?” Chan asks, grimacing.

“No?” Changbin answers, frowning, “it’s just because you’re annoying.”

“Ouch,” Chan says, acting like he got his heart crushed, “why were you looking at Minho anyway?” he adds, frowning.

“I was trying to send him telepathic messages to tell him to date you,” Changbin deadpans.

“That’s so nice of you,” Chan says, sounding honestly moved, and Changbin blinks.

Is he dumb? He thinks to himself before rolling his eyes.

“I was just getting away from you and Felix to have cookies,” Changbin says, “it’s not my fault your crush also decided to get out.”

Chan pouts, and steals a cookie before looking at Minho.

Minho is dressed in a large yellow and blue tee-shirt with fuchsia sweatpants, which makes him very visible even from their apartment, but Chan doesn’t care for the questionable fashion sense of his crush. Minho looks super cute today again, and he feels very blessed to be able to see him. He sighs, his expression turning lovestruck as Minho sits down on one of the chairs on his balcony and he takes one of his cats in his arms to cuddle.

“I wish that was me,” he says, dreamily.

Changbin elbows him.

“Keep that attitude and that’ll never happen,” Changbin lets him know, “I don’t know, try talking to him at least? You don’t need me to ask for his number, right? We’re not in middle school!”

Chan’s expression saddens at Changbin’s words, and he whines.

“You’re not cute,” Changbin states, and Chan hides his face in his hands.

“Stop bullying me,” Chan moans, “of course you didn’t have that issue with Felix, you already lived with him!”

Changbin shrugs, and Felix finally joins them on the balcony. Seeing that his boyfriend has cookies, he makes a happy noise and back-hugs Changbin.

“Feed me!” he asks cutely, opening his mouth wide.

Changbin doesn’t make any remarks, Chan notices, and feeds Felix with a cookie. Chan frowns and crosses his arms: Changbin is too biased.

“Stop frowning, have another cookie,” Changbin tells him, and although it’s kinda hard to hear him because Felix’s loud munching, Chan gets it and picks one.

“We should make a bet with the guys to see how long it’ll take you to get with Minho,” Felix cackles. “I say two years.”

“Rude!!” Chan exclaims, not believing the nerve of his younger friend.

“How long have you been crushing on him anyway? It’s been at least four months, so it could take two years!”

“I’m gonna move out,” Chan says, defeated.

He looks at Changbin, who merely looks back at him unimpressed.

“I say one year.”

“Stop it!”

* * *

The next day, Chan has trouble hiding his smile as he makes his way to the only class he shares with his crush. It’s an English class, and Chan secretly hopes that he’ll get to hear Minho speak English today. Because there’s twenty students taking this class, it’s not rare for them to be able to practice their oral skills, and Chan’s not only in love with Minho’s pleasant tone when he speaks Korean, but he has a soft spot for his cute English voice. Meanwhile, everyone usually struggles understanding his Aussie accent, so he’s always forced to focus to make his English as understandable as possible.

He sits through the class feeling excited to be near Minho, who’s sitting a few seats away from him today. He looks as cute as usual, but Chan’s also blinded by his feelings. He’s busy daydreaming about asking Minho on a date when the teacher says something that catches his attention.

“-and so for this project, I’ll need you to work in pairs. You can choose whoever you’d like in the class, and I’ll let you pick the subject as well. The presentation needs to be ten minutes long, and all you need is a Powerpoint that you’ll email me on the day of the presentation.”

Chan’s eyes sparkle at that, and his heart starts racing. This is it, the perfect occasion to talk to Minho! His eyes find his crush, who’s still listening to the rest of the teacher’s explanations, and he bites his lower lip. His timing needs to be impeccable if he wants to be Minho’s partner for sure.

The teacher stops talking and announces that the class is over, telling them to find their partners and to give her the names in each duo. Chan jumps to his feet, and rushes to Minho’s side as calmly as possible.

“Hi Minho!” he greets him, almost tripping, “say, do you wanna do the project with me?” he asks, and he hopes his voice isn’t betraying his excitement too much.

Minho blinks at him, and Chan realizes that he didn’t introduce himself, so Minho is probably freaking out and will refuse to do anything with him and god did he just scare his crush away he’s so stupid stupid stupid-

“You’re, um, Chan, right?” Minho says, frowning like it’s helping him focus to remember Chan’s name. “Sure?”

Chan’s face brightens, and he smiles at Minho happily.

“Awesome! Let me tell the teacher about it and I’ll give you my number!”

Chan doesn’t look back as he hops to the teacher’s desk to inform her about him and Minho being a duo for the presentation. She writes their names on her laptop and thanks him, and that done, Chan makes his way back to Minho, who just finished putting his water bottle in his bag.

Minho hands him his phone, and Chan puts in his contact information, his hands all sweaty. Minho calls him, and Chan gulps down as he also registers Minho’s number. Chan catches sight of Minho’s phone background, which is a picture of his cats, and he coos. Minho sends him a surprised look, and Chan realizes he sounded weird.

“I saw the cats on your phone background!” Chan says, a bit too loud, and there’s a half-smile on Minho’s face.

“They’re mine,” he says.

It takes all of Chan’s willpower not to admit he knows about his cats and that he also knows where he lives, because he’s afraid Minho will think he’s a stalker.

“They look adorable,” Chan says, and he means it.

“Do you like cats?” Minho asks with obvious interest, and Chan feels on cloud nine to be conversing with him so easily.

“I do! I like dogs too, we actually have a dog at home at my parents’, and I wish we could have a cat with my roommates, but they’re both allergic.”

At the mention of the word “allergic”, Minho frowns, like he’s feeling sincerely pained for Chan’s roommates.

“Oh no, that’s awful,” Minho says, “cats are so awesome,” he adds, nodding to himself.

Chan smiles, and he’d love for the conversation to go on for a longer time, but Minho checks the time on his phone before speaking up.

“I have to go to my next class. I know the project’s not due until two weeks, but I’d appreciate if we could finish it before, because I have two presentations to do for important classes for my major.”

“Ah, of course!” Chan agrees, “I’ll text you so we can arrange a first meeting and start this project as soon as possible.”

Minho sends him a smile that makes him freeze, and he waves before departing for his next class. Chan stays still, his eyes following Minho as he leaves, and he finally remembers that he needs to breathe to keep on living. He holds back from jumping around like an overexcited puppy, and makes his way back home, done with today’s classes.

* * *

Once home, he decides to wait for at least the evening before texting Minho. He doesn’t want to appear too eager, though he guesses that Minho will probably not think much of his messages, no matter when he sends them.

“Why do you keep looking at your phone?” Felix asks, raising an eyebrow.

Chan looks up, and he probably makes a dumb face before Felix grimaces.

“I’ve got Minho’s number!”

“Uh? How’d you do that?”

Chan feels a little vexed that Felix seems so judgmental.

“I asked him, duh,” he shrugs.

“Did you force him to give you his number? That ain’t cool man.”

“Of course not, you dumbass! We’re partners on a project for our English class!”

“Okay dumbass,” Felix answers, sticking out his tongue. “Good luck I guess.”

“Good luck for what?” Changbin suddenly asks, getting out of the bathroom after a shower, visibly.

“Chan’s gonna get laid,” Felix tells his boyfriend, and Chan doesn’t have the time to correct him that Changbin rolls his eyes.

“My prayers are getting answered,” he says, and Chan throws a cushion at him.

“Don’t talk to me,” Chan mutters as he focuses on his phone once more to type a text to Minho.

He spends a ridiculous amount of time finding the right words, resulting in Changbin asking him if he’s writing a speech and Felix trying to steal his phone to send Minho dumb memes, but he finally manages to type an okay text. After hitting send, he nervously checks the screen every ten seconds, until Changbin threatens him to confiscate his phone.

“If you really have nothing else to do than wait for him to text back, you can cook dinner!” Changbin tells him, obviously getting more and more annoyed at Chan’s behavior.

Chan whines, but does head for the kitchen, taking his phone with him – just in case!

It isn’t until well after dinner that Chan’s phone lights up with a notification that Minho texted him back. Chan pauses the episode of his anime at the speed of light and almost knocks down his soda can on his laptop doing so. He grabs his phone with shaky hands and opens his messaging app.

**Chan (English)**

Hi Minho!! It’s me, Chan

Since you mentioned wanting to do the project asap we could meet soon!

Tell me when you’re free and I’ll match my schedule to yours （＾ω＾）

**Minho**

Hi

Sorry for answering so late, I had to make a few calls

And then I had to feed my cats and myself too and it took forever

Anyway

I’m free on weekends and other than that Tuesday and Friday afternoons too

**Chan (English)**

No worries haha （＾ω＾）

This Friday afternoon would work out just fine

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

Cool

Can you come at mine at 2pm?

I’m not a big fan of the library, I’d rather be at home

**Chan (English)**

Sure thing!!

OMG I can meet your cats then!!

(★^O^★)

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

Yes

**Chan (English)**

Can’t wait, I bet they’re even cuter in real life

≧ω≦

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

They definitely are

See you Friday!

**Chan (English)**

Bye ≧ω≦

* * *

Friday comes and it’s an overexcited Chan who knocks on Minho’s door, a huge smile spread on his face. He arrived right on time, and on top of bringing his laptop, he brought snacks for him and Minho, but also for his cats – although it might be slightly over the top considering he doesn’t know Minho’s cats. You’re not even friends with Minho to begin with, Chan reminds himself, but he sure intends on befriending him.

He checks the address Minho sends him earlier this morning, but it’s definitely the right apartment. He can’t help but be nervous, and unsurprisingly, his nervousness doesn’t go away when Minho opens the door. Chan smiles even brighter, and Minho answers his “hello!!” by a small “hello” before letting him in.

Chan steps in and kicks off his shoes in the entrance, and his heart starts racing because this is it, he’s in Minho’s apartment. The place is not too bad for one person, especially considering Minho owns three cats. Chan follows Minho to the living room, and they sit on his couch. Chan looks around, and Minho seems to find it funny.

“It’s not that big, but it’s quite okay,” Minho says, “I’ve got my room separated from the rest of the apartment so that’s already a nice change compared to my last place, everything was in the same room, pretty much.”

“Your place is really nice,” Chan says, wondering if Minho’s cats will join them soon.

“Thanks,” Minho grins, “do you want something to drink before we get started?”

“Oh, sure, I’d like that. Thank you.”

Minho gets them soda cans, and Chan brings out the snacks he bought. Minho’s eyes light up at the sight of the snacks, and they barely open a first bag of chips that there’s a loud purr. Chan goes “oh!” as a ginger cat appears, visibly coming out of Minho’s bedroom.

“Someone wants snacks too,” Chan jokes, already beaming at the cat who stretches before jumping on Minho’s lap, staring at the bag Chan is holding with interest.

“This is Soonie,” Minho introduces in a warm voice full of affection, “she’s my oldest girl. Soonie, this is Chan, and he’s the one who brought the snacks, so be nice to him, okay?”

Soonie looks at Minho briefly, then at Chan before meowing. Chan starts laughing, and Minho soon joins him, leaving Soonie to meow a little louder because she didn’t get what she wanted yet. Chan is still giggling when there’s another ginger cat who jumps on the couch.

“Here’s Dongie,” Minho says, scratching her behind the ears.

“Can I pet them?” Chan asks, his voice full of hope, and Minho nods.

“You can let them sniff you before, just in case, but they love cuddles.”

Chan starts with Dongie, who immediately purrs as his fingers graze her. He beams, and encouraged, cuddles her, forgetting about the snacks bag in his arms. Minho, by his side, takes Soonie to cuddle her, kissing the top of her head from time to time. Chan is feeling in paradise, being surrounded by cats and getting to see Minho looking the happiest. He’s smiling dumbly when Minho sighs, catching his attention.

“What is it?” Chan asks, worried.

“We’re supposed to study,” Minho says, visibly this close to pouting.

Chan considers saying “fuck studying”, but quickly holds himself back. He shouldn’t be this rude around Minho, especially when they don’t know each other that much.

“Fuck studying,” Minho mutters under his breath.

Chan looks at him with eyes as round as marbles. Are we soulmates? Chan whines inwardly, and he’s about to do something stupid when Minho speaks up again.

“Okay, let’s do it anyway and we can take a break to play with my babies again.”

“Let’s do that!” Chan agrees with enthusiasm.

They move from the couch to the table, each getting their respective laptop. Minho brings the snacks too, and Chan can’t help but smile when Minho’s cats join them, laying on the chairs near them.

“I have another cat,” Minho says as Chan turns on his laptop, “her name is Dori, and she’s my youngest girl. I’m guessing she’s sleeping in my room, but I’m sure she’ll come out later.”

“I can’t wait to see her too,” Chan confesses, and Minho smiles at him.

They both sigh, and start discussing what topic they should pick for their presentation. Minho ends up suggesting they simply pick a Korean monument, and Chan agrees.

It’s so pleasant working with Minho, Chan realizes, because he’s clever and has a lot of ideas. He’s not as hyper as Chan is, so this nicely balances their interactions. A few times, their fingers graze each other as they reach out for the same snacks at the same time, resulting in Chan blushing while Minho merely says “my bad, sorry”. When the afternoon ends, they’re done with a rough outline of the presentation, and they even added a few key elements per Powerpoint page so as to get ahead.

Minho doesn’t even need to tell Chan to crash on the couch with him, and they’re soon sighing deeply. Chan turns towards Minho, about to ask him questions because he wants to know him better, when a minuscule “meow” can be heard. Minho perks up, and Chan’s heart misses a beat as Minho picks up a grey kitten in his hands.

“Here’s Dori, at last!” Minho tells him, petting Dori’s small body gently, “I guess she slept the entire afternoon.”

“Deserved,” Chan jokes, beaming once more, “she’s so adorable, oh my goodness.”

Minho smiles proudly, just like a cat dad, and he kisses Dori’s head before handing her to Chan.

“Are you sure?” Chan asks, and for a brief moment, he feels like Minho is handing him their newborn baby.

“Of course, she loves cuddles,” Minho nods, and Chan carefully takes Dori in his arms.

She purrs the moment Chan takes her, and his heart melts at the kitten makes herself comfortable in the crook of his left elbow, visibly ready to take another nap here. Chan is about to caress her when Minho does first, and he gulps down as his crush gets closer to him so as to pet his kitten easier. He doesn’t dare raise his face, too nervous to see Minho from so up close. He does try to see which expression Minho is wearing, and he feels himself fall in love all over again because Minho looks so soft and affectionate, his eyes full of love for Dori.

Minho looks up as Chan does, and their eyes meet for a long moment. Chan flushes and looks away first, embarrassed and afraid his gaze will betray his feelings. But Minho doesn’t have any notable reaction, and merely calls for Soonie and Dongie. Dongie turns her back on them, but Soonie comes on his lap, rubbing her little orange heard against Minho’s chest. Soonie then meows loudly, and Minho chuckles.

“Right, it’s time for dinner,” he says, getting up with Soonie in his arms.

“Can I help you with anything?” Chan asks eagerly, but Minho shakes his head.

“I’m all good, thanks. Stay with Dori, I think she likes you.”

Chan flushes harder at Minho’s comment, and his eyes fall on the kitten cuddling him; she does seem to like him, if the way she’s all curled up against him is any indication. Great, his cats like me, Chan thinks to himself, now, will he like me back, though?

Minho fills up his cats’ bowls with food, and while Soonie and Dongie come to eat, Dori seems too comfortable to move yet. Minho stares at her from afar with a fond look, and Chan smiles at him, a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay, she can eat later,” Minho tells him.

Chan is about to answer, but instead, his stomach growls loudly. He opens his mouth, then closes it, embarrassment overwhelming him. Minho snorts before speaking up.

“Do you want to stay over for dinner?” he offers.

Chan freezes.

“I mean, uh, sure, yes, I’d love that, but is it okay?”

Minho shrugs and smiles.

“I was thinking of ordering some fried chicken for myself anyway, so it’s all good.”

Chan beams at him, and nods.

“Okay then!”

An hour later and they’re watching an anime together while feasting on their fried chicken, and Chan wonders, once again, if he’s in heaven. Minho’s cheeks get real big when he eats, and he looks so cute focusing on their series. Plus, Minho’s cats have joined them on the couch, and it’s been a while since Chan felt this happy. It’s crazy how this week, he went from having never talked to Minho to now eating on his couch with him and his pets.

“This is fun,” Chan tells Minho, “I’d love to study with you more if it’s like that every time.”

Minho snorts, almost choking on his chicken. He looks at Chan with an amused look.

“I do watch a lot of animation but I don’t treat myself to chicken every time I’m done studying.”

Chan grins happily.

“We should do this more anyway,” he concludes, and he feels incredibly soft when Minho nods with a small smile.

Chan has to leave eventually, and he spends some time cuddling and playing with Minho’s cats before he does. He also gifts Minho the treats for his cats, and Minho is confused for a moment – but before Chan’s insistence, he accepts the treats. Chan waves at Minho with a big smile, and goes home. When he comes in, the look on his face must give away that he spent a really great day because Changbin and Felix ask him what happened.

“I was at Minho’s earlier for our presentation!” Chan explains, and his roommates go “oooh”.

“And? You got laid or what?” Felix asks.

Changbin laughs at that, while Chan sends the couple a judging look.

“You guys don’t deserve to know what I did with Minho anyway,” Chan says, huffing.

“Someone didn’t get laid ~” Felix teases, and Chan gives him the finger before heading to his room.

* * *

**Chan (English)**

Today was so fun! ≧ω≦

I had no idea it could be this fun studying with someone else

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

Lol

**Chan**

I mean it!!

Usually I struggle on my own

Or I try to do it with my roomies but they suck ಥ_ಥ

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

Are they annoying?

**Chan**

They’re a couple now so they team up against me

One of them even bit me earlier this week (╥_╥)

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

Lol

So that’s what the bite mark on your arm was?

**Chan**

You saw it?!? (╥_╥)

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

It was kinda hard not to notice it

**Chan**

Felix bit me because he’s crazy

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

He’s just like a cat

**Chan**

Well yeah but at least cats are cute

**Minho (=ටᆼට=)**

They are (◕ᴥ◕)

Okay, I’m going to sleeping

Ttyl Chan!

**Chan**

Bye, sleep well ≧ω≦

* * *

Minho and Chan agree to meet a second time, this time on a Tuesday afternoon. Chan shows up with snacks again, but this time just for him and Minho, figuring the cats still have treats from last time. Chan is happily smiling, but his smile wavers when he sees that Minho looks down compared to last time. He comes in, and he can’t help but reach out to him, gently grazing his arm.

“Are you okay?”

Minho hesitates, and sighs sadly.

“I had to take Dongie to the vet because she had to get her vaccines, but she didn’t like the experience, obviously, and I feel bad because she’s moping now.”

Chan’s heart softens at Minho’s pained expression.

“I’m sure she’s okay,” Chan says, rubbing Minho’s arm, “where is she now?”

Minho looks at him with sad eyes, and Chan follows him in his room. He gulps down as he enters, feelings anxious to come into his crush’s bedroom. The room is well-lit, with a few posters of bands on the walls, and besides that there’s a big bed and a wardrobe. Chan’s eyes fall on Dongie, who’s laying on the bed, indeed looking a bit sick.

Minho lets out a sad sigh, and he sits by the end of the bed, not too close to Dongie so as to not bother her. Chan joins him, and they’re both looking at Dongie for a while, silently.

“None of them enjoys going to the vet,” Minho eventually says, “and it’s not like I enjoy seeing them stress either, but I can’t help that they have mandatory visits. Out of the three, Soonie is better at dealing with those, and Dori hasn’t gone that many times. But Dongie’s already quite difficult to deal with in the first place, so she always lets me know about her being upset.”

“I’m sure they understand that you feel sorry for them, somehow,” Chan says, taking Minho’s hand in his. “Look, she’s laying on your bed after all, so I’m guessing she’s seeking comfort in a place that reminds her of you,” he finishes, squeezing Minho’s fingers.

Minho nods, and sniffles.

“Sorry, you probably think I’m dumb for crying about my cats going to the vet,” he says, using his free hand to wipe his eyes.

“Of course not!” Chan counters, “you’re not dumb, you’re just sensitive and you have empathy for your pets, that’s great! And I have pets too, I know how it feels to see them suffer without being able to help them.”

Minho nods a second time, and Chan feels brave, all of a sudden. Right now, he doesn’t want to flirt with his crush, he wants to be a good, reliable friend for Minho.

“Do you need a hug?” Chan asks, and Minho whispers a small “yes”.

Chan moves closer and wraps an arm arms around Minho’s waist and the other around his shoulders, and Minho cuddles against him, hiding his face in his neck.

“Everything will be fine, Dongie’s gonna be healthy and bothering you in no time,” Chan promises, and he shivers as he feels Minho giggle in his neck.

“Thank you for being here,” Minho tells him, sincere, “I really appreciate it.”

“Any time,” Chan answers, squeezing Minho in his arms.

Chan wonders if he should say something else, but he doesn’t have to, for there’s some nudging near his waist. Chan lets go of Minho to look down, and Minho goes “oh!” as they see Dongie looking back at them, her big eyes sparkling. She visibly hesitates between Minho and Chan, and eventually goes on Minho’s lap, asking to be petted. Chan smiles at her actions, and when his eyes meet Minho’s, he can tell he’s feeling incredibly relieved and happy.

“I told ya,” Chan says, petting Dongie too.

Minho doesn’t answer, but Chan knows he’s feeling thankful anyway.

That afternoon, they agree on skipping the studying to instead watch anime on Minho’s couch. More than once, Chan finds himself hand-feeding Minho, making both of them laugh, and more importantly, all three of Minho’s cats are with them. Minho eventually lays his head on Chan’s shoulder as they both get invested into the newest episodes of One Piece, and Chan lets him, overjoyed.

* * *

The day of the presentation finally comes, and Chan suggests they go first. Minho agrees, and the teacher is delighted that their group is volunteering right away. Chan opens their Powerpoint, and he starts talking, mindful of his pronunciation because he knows some of his classmates aren’t fluent in English. Minho takes over at some point, and Chan tries really hard not to beam at him when he speaks, reminding himself that they’re in class. They’re done in ten minutes, and the teacher and their classmates clap at the end of their presentation. Chan sends a bright smile at Minho, and they sit next to each other to listen to the others.

The class ends and they leave together, and Chan offers that they eat together tonight to celebrate. Minho easily agrees, and he waves cutely at Chan before heading for his next class. Chan goes back home, and spends the rest of the day looking forward to seeing Minho again. He wonders what they should eat, and then figures he might as well decide with Minho.

“Maybe I should grab some dessert?” Chan thinks aloud, giggling to himself.

And maybe it’s time to let Minho he’s interested in him, Chan encourages himself. They’ve gotten closer through their study dates, and Chan would very much like to ask Minho out on a real date. They don’t have to become official boyfriends and stuff right now, but at least go on one date and see how it’ll go from there…

It’s nearing 6:30pm so Chan is making his merry way to Minho’s apartment. He ended up not getting dessert, figuring that maybe they could go out and take a walk outside after dinner. He’s still smiling to himself when he sees that there is someone in front of Minho’s door. Chan tilts his head, and approaches discreetly, not wanting to disturb them.

The man looks around his and Minho’s age, and Minho is listening as he talks, but he’s looking away, like he’s not liking what the guy is telling him. Chan gulps down, and can’t help but tip top a little closer so as to hear what they’re talking about, even if he does admit that eavesdropping is bad. The guy sighs at Minho, and Minho sends him a defiant look.

“C’mon, I’m just trying to help you,” the guy says, “I know you’re not the most social person out there, but what will your boyfriend think if all you ever do is spend time with your cats and talk about them?”

At the word boyfriend, Chan’s heart stops. Of course, as much as he’d secretly hoped Minho would be into men – and seeing as he seemingly didn’t mind when Chan talked about his two dumb gay roommates – he hadn’t imagined Minho would already have a boyfriend. He never mentioned him, Chan thinks to himself, tears already coming up to his eyes, and now I got my hopes up for nothing.

He feels so bad thinking about all the close interactions he’s had with Minho, gradually growing more touchy with him. Minho’s boyfriend would probably beat him to a pulp if he knew about that, Chan realizes, and he feels worse and worse. He doesn’t want to stay here, he needs to go home.

He turns on his heels, but he accidentally hurts his arm against a wall.

“Ouch, fuck,” he swears, rubbing his arm.

“Chan?” Minho calls out his name, and Chan freezes.

He turns his head enough to see Minho looking at him, his eyes wide. Minho’s friend is also looking at him with a surprised expression on his face, and it’s too much for Chan.

“Sorry!” he says loudly before rushing into the staircase.

He runs to his apartment, not looking behind him even once, and his hands are trembling when he types in the pathcode to his place. He unlocks the door and goes for his room, where he jumps on his bed and hides his face in his pillow.

“He probably hates you now,” Chan tells himself, “and he thinks you’re a weird dumbass and he’ll… he’ll never talk to you again,” he finishes, his throat feeling so constricted it hurts.

He bursts into tears at that, and he wants nothing but to cry his heart out and force himself to forget he blew up all of his potential chances with his crush.

After a few long minutes of sobbing, he calms himself enough to grab the box of tissues near his bed to blow his nose, several times. He wipes his eyes, blows his nose some more, and grabs his bottle water, almost downing it in one go. Crying is exhausting, he realizes, sniffling. Don’t think about Minho, he orders himself, just... don’t.

There’s a knock on his door, and right now, Chan really doesn’t want to see his roommates. Despite all of their teasing and bullying, he knows Changbin and Felix will be there and the best of friends to comfort him about his heartbreak, but the wound in his heart is too fresh for him to talk about what happened with anyone.

“Leave me alone,” Chan says, staring sadly at his door.

There’s some whispering behind the door, and Chan frowns.

“Sorry guys I really don’t feel like talking now,” he adds, and there’s more whispering.

Chan sighs, and he gets up. He opens his door to tell them to go away, but the first face he sees is Minho’s. Changbin and Felix are behind him, but Chan barely sees them. Minho opens his mouth, but Chan’s arm moves quicker as he attempts to close the door again. Felix jumps in, preventing from doing so, and he tells Minho to go into Chan’s room. Minho apologizes before entering, and Changbin closes the door behind him, leaving Minho and Chan together.

Chan is frozen with pain, shame and whatnot, and he realizes that it’s obvious he’s been crying on his bed because of the tissue box and the tear stains on his pillow. He has no idea what to say, though, and Minho is visibly a bit shy too.

“Your room looks nice,” Minho says, an ice-breaker as good as another, Chan figures.

“Uh, thanks?”

“Your roommates let me in,” Minho adds, and Chan nods, having understood that already.

There’s a heavy silence after that, with both of them fidgeting, and Chan figures they might as well sit. He heads for his bed, flattens his blanket, and pats the space next to him. Minho wordlessly sits there, and there’s more fidgeting. Chan isn’t a big fan of the atmosphere, he’s actually this close to thinking he’d rather be crying.

“Um, about earlier,” Minho says, “the guy you saw is my best friend, Seungmin.”

Chan nods. He understood that Seungmin wasn’t Minho’s boyfriend – but anyway, whoever is dating Minho is the luckiest.

“I figured it was something like that,” Chan says, “I’m really sorry about eavesdropping, I didn’t mean to.” He gulps down, before resuming “And I’m sorry for flirting with you although you have a boyfriend, I had no idea you did and you can tell him I’m sorry for overstepping my boundaries.”

“Uh,” Minho says, scratching his head and not looking at Chan, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Chan’s eyes widen.

“But what Seungmin said…?”

“He was talking hypothetically,” Minho says, blushing faintly, “as in, if I have a boyfriend in the future, he’d probably mind if I keep talking about my cats.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Chan says before he can stop himself, and he slams his hand against his mouth. “Fuck, sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Minho says, his voice a bit lower than before.

Chan hesitates, but figures he might as well confess everything while he’s at it.

“I’m sorry, I just… really like you, and it’d really help me move on if you could reject me right away.”

Minho’s cheeks are strawberry-colored at this point, and he coughs.

“I don’t want to reject you, though…?”

Chan stares at him, dumbfounded.

“What,” he says.

“What I mean is,” Minho starts, “I think you’re pretty fun and you’re also really cute and I like spending time with you, so I don’t want to reject you.”

Chan wonders if right now is a good time to faint. His brain is slowly but surely getting deep-fried, and he gapes like a fish, while Minho blushes more, if that’s even humanely possible. Chan’s attempt at saying “thank you” fails as he blurts out something in an alien language, making Minho laugh.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Chan manages to ask in proper Korean, feeling proud he didn’t stutter.

“Yes, of course,” Minho answers, and Chan beams at him.

Minho even leans in to kiss his cheek, and at that, Chan lets himself fall on his bed and grabs his pillow to hide his face in it. Minho laughs at his silly behavior, and Chan smiles in the softness of his pillow.

* * *

**Chan ♡**

I’m almost heeeeere

Wait for me!!

╭( ･ㅂ･)و

**Minho ♡ (=ටᆼට=) ♡**

Lol

I’m already at the ice cream parlor anyway

It’s not like I’m gonna go anywhere else

**Chan ♡**

(╥_╥)

Sorry about being late sobs

**Minho ♡ (=ටᆼට=) ♡**

It’s okkk

Ah

I see you

**Chan ♡**

⊂（♡⌂♡）⊃

“Hey you,” Minho greets as Chan almost crashes into him, not quite controlling his speed.

“Hi!!” Chan exclaims, and Minho chuckles before pecking his lips.

Chan blushes, but quickly recovers his smile. He takes Minho’s hand in his, keeping a bag in his other one, and they make their way to the counter to order ice cream.

“I’ll pay,” Chan announces proudly, making the cashier at the counter chuckle at his enthusiasm. “I’ll have a scoop of vanilla and one scoop of chocolate, please.”

Minho thinks for a short moment, and speaks up.

“I’ll take two scoops of mint-chocolate, please.”

Chan freezes.

“What,” he says, “you like mint-chocolate?!”

“It’s good,” Minho frowns.

“Do you enjoy eating toothpaste?” Chan asks, horrified by his boyfriend’s tastes.

“You’re not the one eating it, leave me alone,” Minho pouts.

“But I’m the one kissing you afterwards!”

“Look, just pay for the ice cream, the lady is waiting.”

Chan does so while muttering his breath, but the cashier seemingly doesn’t mind their banter. She hands Chan’s card back to him with a smile and tells them to enjoy their ice cream. They sit at a table, and Chan forgets about the mint-chocolate discourse as he starts devouring his own ice cream. Minho is also happy with his, and they sit in silence for a few seconds. Chan finally puts the bag brought with him on the table, and pushes it towards Minho.

“This is for you,” Chan says, “that’s why I was so late, I couldn’t find what I wanted at the store.”

“You got me a gift?” Minho asks, a little surprised.

“I did,” Chan giggles, and his smile gets brighter as Minho grins.

“Thank you,” Minho says, taking the small bag on his lap.

He retrieves a wrapped gift from the bag, and opens it before Chan’s sparkly eyes. He goes “oh!” as the gift turns out to be a small cat keychain of a black cat with a silver star on one ear.

“It’s so cute,” Minho coos, staring at it delighted.

“And guess what,” Chan says, “I got a matching one!” he adds, taking out his keys to show off his own keychain, similar in all points to Minho’s except that his is a white cat.

“Matching couple items,” Minho jokes, “they’re so cute, thank you, really.”

Chan is about to add something when Minho gets up and gets closer to him to kiss him.

“You’re eating mint-chocolate ice cream!” Chan protests.

“You’re gonna say no to your boyfriend kissing you because of ice cream?” Minho raises a challenging eyebrow.

Chan pouts, but gives in – and Minho’s lips on his feel the best anyway, toothpaste ice cream be damned.

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of a late disclaimer but I am actually not familiar with Stray Kids except for what @Thaneuh has told me about them and like that one video I watched about Lee Know's cats fsdiofosfs
> 
> Also, unlike Chan in this fic, I am a fervent mint-chocolate ice cream defender ♡
> 
> Once again happy birthday @Thaneuh I love you ♡
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/dojaefairy) | [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.qa/dojaefairy)


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